Kibbutz communal child rearing and collective education

Communal child rearing was the method of education that prevailed in the collective communities in Israel (kibbutz and plural: kibbutzim), until about the end of the 1980s.

Collective education started on the day of birth and went on until adulthood. At the time it was considered a natural outcome of the principle of equality, which was part and parcel of the kibbutz life. The education authority of the kibbutz was responsible for the rearing and well being of all the children born on the kibbutz, taking care of their food, clothing and medical treatment. Everybody received the same share of everything. Parents were not involved economically in the upbringing of their children.

Children's lives had three focal points: the children's house, parents' house and the whole kibbutz. They lived in the children's house where they had communal sleeping arrangements and visited their parents for 2–3 hours a day.

Non selectivity was a fundamental principle of collective education; every child got 12 years of study, they took no tests whatsoever and no grades were recorded. The founders of the kibbutz actually aimed at creating "the 'new man' of a utopian society."

Collective education was carried out within the boundaries of three co centered circles: the children's house, parents' house and the kibbutz community.

A group of children, all about the same age, shared a children's house and had a nanny who took care of their every day needs. Each house had a dining hall, a classroom, bedrooms (3-4 children in each room) and a bathroom. Boys and girls took showers together during elementary school up to the sixth grade and usually shared their bedrooms even until the end of high school.

This was the kibbutz children's house, where they learned, had their meals, took their showers, slept and woke up in the morning. This was where they got their clean clothes and from there their dirty laundry was sent, all tied up in a big bundle, back to the collective laundry.

Every child had a towel on a hanger in the bathroom and a smaller hand towel near the sink, with a small cup for the toothbrush. Each also had two closet shelves, one for the morning clothing and another for the afternoon clothing. The nanny was in charge of the daily routine at the children's house.

The kibbutz was a collective community, and so was its education system. The kibbutz authorities provided equally for all children born to its members and they shared everything equally. The provision of health and psychological care was according to specific needs. Kibbutz members who were considered the most educated and esteemed got the position of educators. The nanny position was always a woman's role. Teacher positions were both for women and men.

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